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April 19, 2009

Schadenfreude 71 (A Continuing Series)

Three calamitous appearances into the season, there is considerable cause for panic. ... [B]ehind the scenes, the Yankees are working frantically to repair Wang's mechanics and to massage the pitcher's shattered confidence. They have tried varying his workout schedule, pitching to live batters, speaking to him in low, soothing voices.

Wang's next appearance is supposed to come on Friday at Fenway, but that is very unlikely to happen because the Yankees have an off day on Thursday and can skip him.

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The New York Yankees spent approximately $1.5 billion on their new ball park, but they didn't buy everything they needed.

It turns out that they did not have "14" to put on the scoreboard yesterday for Cleveland's historic second inning. They had to make due with a strip of white tape stuck to the left of a "4".

It was the first time the Yankees had ever allowed 14 runs in an inning (the 13 hits was also an opponents' record). Beleaguered starter Chien-Ming Wang and Anthony Claggett (making his major league debut) were the punching bags.

By the time the game was over, the Spiders had set a club record with 52 at-bats and tied a club record with 50 total bases. Five Yankee pitchers threw a combined 226 pitches.The last time Cleveland scored 20+ runs? That was also against the Yankees, on August 31, 2004, when they posted a 22-0 shutout.

The last time a team put up a 14-run inning was June 27, 2003, when the Red Sox routed the Marlins 25-8.

History: Cleveland had also scored 14 runs in the first inning back on June 18, 1950, against the Philadelphia A's. And the Yankees had allowed 13 runs in a single inning to the Tigers on June 17, 1925.

In addition to the 14-spot and Saturday's drubbing, the Yankees also allowed nine runs to Cleveland in the seventh inning of Thursday's home (and stadium) opener, losing 10-2.

Classy Yankee fans made Claggett feel right at home during his major league debut.Anthony McCarron, Daily News:

It's hard to imagine that the 28.93 ERA [Wang] brought into the game could rise, but it did, ballooning to 34.50. ... The Yankees now face a rotation crisis – Can they let Wang start at Fenway on Friday?

Well, the dimensions are exactly the same, aren't they?Yes, but it's also rotated about 30 degrees compared to the old park relative to the river. So the aerodynamics for pop-ups are probably completely different, meaning the Yankees and the state of New York have spent over a billion dollars on a giant wind tunnel to right of center. (I also like to think of it as the world's first FAILpark.)

Although you've already framed any disagreement with your central point as "rationalization," I'll try to explain why I think what you're doing is apples and oranges.

First, the rookie is on their team, Roger, at that point, was not on the Red Sox and had not been for a decade. He had plenty of return to Fenway moments prior to that, and Sox fans had plenty of opportunities to thank him.

Second, Clemens had twice spurned the Red Sox offers to come play for the team. He had just signed the biggest single season contract for a pitcher in the history of the game. He was scheduled to make his debut in Fenway, but instead opted to move it back a few days and duck the Fenway crowd. The implicit answer to "where is Roger?" is "hiding from us."

I was there, and it gave me chills. This was just a bunch of people booing a kid because he had a bad day.

Really, how long are we supposed to wait until we are done showing our appreciation for past deeds? Keeping in mind that Roger didn't do anything "for" me, he did it "for" himself and his wallet. Not that he should be condemned for that (there is plenty else to condemn him for), but it's not like he's a fireman or part of doctors without borders or Tim Wakefield.

"Keeping in mind that Roger didn't do anything "for" me, he did it "for" himself and his wallet."

I'm not asking anyone to like Roger Clemens - I don't - but this point is a bit ridiculous in this context. Any player who performs well is said to do something "for" the team and the fans.

I wasn't implying Clemens acted selflessly or charitably, merely that he performed well, for a long time. And I'm sure you know that's what I meant.

Apples and oranges, or apples and apples, it makes no difference. The two situations do not have to be identical to point out a similarity.

My point was, and remains, that Red Sox fans are not particularly "classy", and generally no classier than Yankee fans. En masse, there's not a lot of difference between the way the two groups act in public.